CMC is involved with three new music commissions for the ConTempo String Quartet.

The Contemporary Music Centre and Galway Ensemble in Residence are pleased to announce a collaborative project involving three music commissions for the ConTempo Quartet with funding from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion’s Project: New Work Award Scheme 2006.

This collaborative project is an opportunity for Irish composers to write for string quartet as well as an exploration of the composition process involving composers, performers and audiences. Two workshops will take place throughout the year as part of the project. The first workshop is an opportunity for the three chosen composers to bring their compositional ideas to the quartet for experimentation. The second workshop, open to the general public, is an opportunity for audiences to hear the first drafts of the new works and to gain insights into the compositional process. Two public performances will be held in early December 2007, one in Galway and one in Dublin.

This is an innovative project which aims to push the boundaries of how composers, performers and audiences interact with each other whilst also extending the range of work written for string quartet in Ireland.

It is open to composers 35 and under as at December 2007. The deadline for receipt of submissions is 26 February 2007. A full commission brief is available from our Opportunities section.

The ConTempo Quartet was formed in 1995 when all the members were students at the Music University in Bucharest, Romania. From September 1999 they took up a position as Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where they stayed until 2002.

Recognised as one of the world's top string quartets, ConTempo has worked with many celebrated quartets, including the Emerson, Amadeus, Alban Berg, Hagen and Tokyo quartets. They have also toured the world extensively.

The ConTempo String Quartet became Galway’s first Ensemble-in-Residence in January 2003. The Ensemble-in-Residence project is designed to bring music to new people and new venues in Galway City and County, and to broaden the experience of those already involved in music.

Further information is available from Karen Hennessy, Promotion Manager, The Contemporary Music Centre, 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 8. Tel:01 673 1922 Email: khennessy@cmc.ie

Posted: 3 February 2007